ZAHARO, Greece - Fires pushed by gale-force winds tore through more parched forests, swallowed villages and scorched the edges of Athens on Saturday with ashes raining onto the Acropolis. The death toll rose to at least 49 as the government declared a nationwide state of emergency.

I just found out that ALL of Greece was without internet all day. We got ours back a few hours ago....All of Athens was without power all day, so they must have gotten it back on. We have neighboring fires on the Island across from us, near the airport, (We live near the airport but not in the fire affected areas) Porto Rafti, where our little Zodiac boat sits, and Rafina, next to our town....and the Peleponesis area. which you listed above where there were many deaths, and still people missing.

There has been a call for a Nationwide state of emergency, our firefighters are tapped out...and we lost a few. They believe arson was cause for atleast half of them, though the heatwave and high winds are also cause in many areas. It is not pleasant to hear about, and many prayers are needed for not only the country, but for the victims, and their families. The worst, heart breaking story was the woman with 4 children whom they found the mother with her arms wrapped around her kids, and yet unidentifiable due to the burns.... this is a sad time in Greece. Now the talk is terrorism, but I highly doubt that....arson and natural fires makes more sense, especially the areas they are in.

Update. It is now 7:20 a.m. here and our house smells like smoke. The air outside is thick and smells like it is next to us, but it is not. It has been windy all summer, so I will assume that it is coming from the Island across from us. Also the areas surrounding us that have the fires could be mixing. It smells terrible outside. I had to close the balcony doors to prevent more smell from coming inside, and the house is hot enough.

Pray the Lord will have mercy on us and send a ton of rain! It is terrible...I mean, to smell it so strong, and not see anything, (ie: flames close by) it's just awful.

Hi and welcome! I am sorry to hear about your house....that must have been so hard on you and your family!!! It is amazing how one day all seems fine and dandy and then boom! But we survive it! By God's grace, we do survive so much, don't we? So glad to have you here!

Several European Union countries are sendingfirefighters and equipment to Greece to help fight hundreds of forestfires that have killed at least 49 people.Earlier, Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis declared a nationwide state of emergency.He said action was being was taken "to mobilise all means and allforces" to put out the worst fires in a decade and help those affected,mostly on the Peloponnese peninsula.A spokeswoman for the Greek embassy in London, Menya Papadopoulou, has described the firefighting operation."We're getting help from France, from Italy, from Spain, Germany, Holland, Cyprus," she said."Of course whatever water-dropping planes arrive tonight, mostprobably they will not be able to operate as night makes things moredifficult."Mr Karamanlis has pointed the finger at arsonists for starting thefires in areas hit hard by summer droughts and multiple heatwaves, andsaid his Government would "do everything in its power to find andpunish those responsible".Firefighters say 22 fires started after nightfall on Friday (localtime), and Mr Karamanlis says that "could not have been a coincidence".Four people were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of deliberatelystarting fires.Bodies recovered

Thirty-nine bodies have been recovered since Friday near the villageof Zacharo in the Ilia region of the western Peloponnese, includingthose of a mother and her four children, aged five to 15.These included the charred remains of two groups discovered on roadsin the mountainous area inhabited mostly by the elderly in winter but apopular family holiday destination in summer.Four others were found on Saturday near the village of Leondari in the central Peloponnese region of Arcadia.Six more perished on Friday on the Mani peninsula, a tourist havenin the southern Peloponnese, including four holidaymakers and avolunteer fireman from a heart attack.From midday on Saturday (local time) onwards, flames fanned bystrong winds began spreading through the region, with evacuationsordered for about 10 areas, firefighters said.The army and health ministry say tents, sleeping bags and othersupplies are being sent to house those left homeless by the fires, andschools have been commandeered."It's chaos. Generations of work have gone up in smoke," saidVassilis Viglas, 65, who had returned to the now devastated village ofArtemida for the summer.More than 800 firefighters, along with about 400 soldiers, supportedby 11 planes and seven helicopters, are attempting to stop the spreadof the flames in the area.Help from EU

Greece's EU neighbours have responded to appeals for help fromAthens. France has sent four Canadair specialised firefightingaircraft, Spain two and Italy one. Sweden has also offered to send anaircraft.Germany, the Netherlands and Norway have dispatched helicopters.France has also dispatched 60 firefighters, and Cyprus firefighters and fire trucks.Another fire also started on a mountain near Athens, butfirefighters are in the process of bringing it under control. A conventhas been evacuated there.Another blaze has broken out in Keratea, north-east of the capital, and is moving towards the seaside resort of Lagonissi. On the island of Euboea, north-east of Athens, firefighters havebeen battling a blaze since Friday night. Evacuations have been calledfor in four different areas.Greece has been battling multiple forest fires since June, fanned bythree heatwaves, the latest this week, and months of drought. Tens ofthousands of hectares have gone up in smoke.There is no respite from the heat in sight. The temperature isforecast to hit a high of 36 Celsius on Sunday in the Peloponnese, withwinds of around 20 kilometres per hour fanning the flames.

Greek authorities are trying to grapple with what has been described as a national tragedy. (AFP: Louisa Gouliamaki)

Emergency workers in Greece are continuing to find bodies of people killed in the worst fires to hit the country for decades.Firefighters have discovered another four corpses taking the deathtoll to at least 41. Among those killed were a woman and her fourchildren, aged from five to 15. Authorities are trying to grapple with what has been described as a national tragedy.It is also being called 'Black Saturday' and the Peloponnese in southern Greece is being labelled a crematorium. Apt descriptions both, as every hour more charred bodies are recovered. Some of the victims died in their cars. Others by the roadside or inolive groves - all unable to outrun the rapidly shifting wall of flame.

People in remote mountain villages have been phoning televisionstations, appealing for someone to rescue them. One caller said theflames were just 50 metres from her home. Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis has called an emergency Cabinet meeting following reports of the rising death toll.Greeks have been stunned by the extent of the devastation wrought by fires, that mostly have been blamed on arsonists

With all the international aid, the fires are still growing. They are evacutating many areas of the Island that is directly across from us, the one I see every day from our balcony. 69 people and counting.

We drove around tonight, and did not see anything, but the air is really thick and the clouds showed the setting sun so vibrantly pink and then covered it in blackness. I tried to take pictures, but the pics didn't do it justice...and we were in a moving car.

The news says it is just getting worse instead of better and people are outraged. They say this is the worst fire in Greek history since the late 1800's, I think it was 1871. And 30 years ago there was a massive fire but the death toll was much lower. Every year there are fires here, somewhat like California. The heat and the pine-cones...not a good combiation. In July, when the temp hit 115 F in the shade....there were fires, but this time it is out of control. I hate having to post these disheartening updates. So, if for any reason I do end up off-line for a while, like yesterday, you will know why. Please continue to keep Greece in your prayers, along with ALL the countries suffering with fires and other disasters. God Bless